Bellator 36 took place at Louisiana’s Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, and the night’s main card aired live on MTV2.

All eight competitors took a step forward in the eight-man tourney, which awards the winner $100,000 in total pay and a lightweight title shot.

Freire, a submission specialist, jumped out to an early lead with surprisingly effective striking and a dominant ground game, which forced McCullough to defend against rear-naked and triangle chokes. McCullough ultimately escaped and rained down some solid punches, but he lost the round and suffered a badly bloodied nose in the process.

McCullough, a Muay Thia specialist, found his range in the second round. Punch-kick combinations proved especially effective. Freire, though, got a late-round takedown and again took his opponent’s back, but McCullough reversed the position and closed out the round with ground and pound to tie up the fight, one round each.

In the third and deciding round, McCullough again took control of the stand-up with vicious leg kicks and a solid overhand right. Freire, though, remained in the pocket and landed some solid punches of his own. With two minutes remaining in the fight, he connected on an inside leg kick and dropped McCullough with a beautifully timed right hand. The one-punch knockdown was followed with a few ground shots and the referee’s intervention.

The TKO end came at the 3:11 mark of the final round.

Freire admittedly entered the bout with a heavy heart following the sudden death of manager Ivan Canello earlier this week.

“I was very sad at Canello’s death, but I know with my victory, he is very proud,” Freire said through a translator.

Imada had come up a victory short in both of Bellator’s first two lightweight tournaments, and things didn’t start off well as he entered his third tourney. But a freak accident caused by a dominant submission hold on late replacement Josh Shockley’s arm ultimately resulted in a quick and efficient win.

Imada took some early blows before Shockley shot and scored the takedown. But once on the mat, Imada locked in an armbar submission. Shockley picked up his opponent and tried to slam his way free, but his arm appeared to break or dislocate once they hit the mat. Shockley yelled out in pain, which the referee declared a verbal submission.

The end came 79 seconds into the fight.

Shockley replaced Judo specialist Ferrid Kheder, who refused to weigh in for the fight and was expected to miss weight, on the eve of the show. But he jumped at the opportunity to enter the tournament field.

Imada admitted he was disappointed he didn’t get to fight Kheder.

“I prepared for him specifically,” he said. “Last minute, the game plan was obviously out of the window, but I had to do what I had to do, and it worked out OK.”

Imada (29-15 MMA, 5-2 BFC) now has won 13 of his past 15 fights, and the only losses came in Bellator tournament finales. Shockley (6-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC), who was schedule to compete on the night’s preliminary card before his tourney substitution, suffers his first career loss.

Woodard scores TKO win over Vanier

Quick hands and some pinpoint-accurate strikes led undefeated “Cupcake” Woodard to his most high-profile victory to date, which came over season-two tourney semifinalist Carey Vanier.

Vanier, a Greg Jackson-trained fighter, found success with early takedowns. But Woodard continually got back to his feet and countered him with punches on subsequent attempts. An overhand right late in the first round landed especially flush and clearly bothered Vanier.

The blows kept coming in the second round, and Woodard quickly connected on a short left hook that dropped his opponent. Vanier swiftly got to his feet but was dropped again with knees from the clinch. With Vanier forced to cover up from the subsequent blows, Woodard pounded away until the referee awarded the TKO stoppage just 46 seconds into the round.

“This is the greatest moment of my life,” Woodard said. “Once he went down to the ground, I knew I just had to keep hitting him hard and he wouldn’t want to continue.”

Woodard (11-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC), a Montana native who primarily has competed in the Northwest, now has posted five consecutive victories via stoppage. Vanier (10-4 MMA, 2-2 BFC) falls to 1-2 over his past three fights.

Chandler tops Held in submission-heavy affair

In the night’s first tourney bout and the MTV2 opener, Chandler survived opponent Marcin Held’s early submission attempts, including a deep leg lock, and ultimately pulled off a submission of his own.

Chandler, a former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at the University of Missouri, attempted a takedown early in the fight, but the 19-year-old Polish prodigy locked in his leg and took the fight to the mat. Held extended and torqued the leg while transitioning from a kneebar to a heel hook. Chandler, though, used punches to held escape, and after some ground and pound, locked in a fight-ending arm-triangle choke.

Held appeared to lose consciousness just as the fight was halted at the 3:56 mark due to the technical submission.

“I am that young, hungry dark horse. I’m here to stay. I promise you I’m going to win this tournament. No one trains harder than me, and no one wants this tournament title more than I do.”

Chandler (6-0 MMA, 3-0 BFC) picks up his sixth straight win and third under the Bellator banner. Held (10-2 MMA, 0-1 BFC), who was making his U.S. debut, suffers just the second loss of his near-three-year pro career.

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